Gianfranco Viterbo

Time flies so fast and the season of giving is already in the corner. The Huawei Y9 2019 is miles away from the 2018 version and the price released by Huawei on this device is definitely surprising. This is my review of the Huawei Y9 2019, your next mid-level smartphone. HUAWEI Y9 2019 SPECS 6.5-inch LCD display, 2,340 x 1,080 resolution (19.5:9) Octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 710 processor 4GB RAM 64GB expandable memory Dual 16- and 2-megapixel rear cameras with LED flash Dual 13- and 2-megapixel front cameras Face unlock Fingerprint sensor (rear-mounted) 4,000mAh battery EMUI 8.2 based on Android 8.1 Oreo BUILD The Huawei Y9 2019’s design is comparable from the Honor 8X, which has a smaller notch on the screen compared to other devices and a vertical orientation on the rear camera. We think that the only drawback of the Huawei Y9 2019 is its slippery handling but on…

MyPhone launched the myX8 last July 2018, an entry-level smartphone that comes with a very competitive price. Spec sheet wise, can it live up to its hype? MyPhone has been out of the market for quite a few months, and now, they are here again in these very competitive months for smartphones, trying to redeem themselves by releasing an entry level smartphone versus local brands and some international brands with higher specs. We’re here to tell you if the MyPhone myX8 is worthy of being your next entry-level smartphone. Build and Design The myX8 is generally made from plastic which makes the device cheaper for its cost of production and for the first time you get to hold the device, you will notice the heft and the thickness of the phone mainly because of the large 4,000 mAh battery. If it is made from mostly plastic, the minimal scratches are…

I’ve been spending quite some time with the MyPhone Brown 2 and found a lot of discoveries about the origin of the phone. MyPhone has been missing in action for a while in the smartphone industry and this is their perfect time in redeeming themselves in the said industry. Brown 2 is a simple mid-range smartphone that is part of the Brown and Proud Movement. For more information about this campaign, you can check their official website here. Build The MyPhone Brown 2 has a sleek unibody structure and a surprisingly slim mid-range smartphone. Because of its faux metallic build, handling can get quite tricky, but it adds that premium feel. On the sides, you’ll notice the beautiful semi-chamfered edges that envelope the device. As you can see, the Brown 2 has a large forehead and chin. Normally, you’ll see the capacitive buttons at the chin. But MyPhone has decided…

Brawlout is a side-scrolling 4-player knockout game that lets you play with various characters with unique specialties. At first, you will somehow think that this is a knock-off of Super Mario Bros from Nintendo because of its game design, controls and graphics but actually it is a different game in its own right. We will list down five things we love about this game and let us know what you think about it. You can also check out our live gameplay from our Facebook Gaming site. https://www.facebook.com/gadgetpilipinas/videos/917257335128153/ Awesome Graphics The interface and graphic design are carefully created by the developer, Angry Mob Games. As you can see in the screenshot, the shadows are aligned from the players and objects like the walls and vases. Brawlout has a vast list of maps that are actually connected from the brawler’s story. Each map has a different playthrough that the player must know…

We first knew Tronsmart as a sole provider for our battery needs and other gadget essentials. With different awesome gadgets announced this year, Tronsmart also updated their roster by adding their first wireless earbuds, the Spunky Buds. The name seems comical but upon using it for quite some time now, we can say that this is the perfect bang-for-the-buck wireless earbuds for someone who runs a lot, hears their favorite music or even watches movie from their devices. This is our review of the Tronsmart Spunky Buds. Build and Features The Tronsmart Spunky Buds comes with an enclosed capsule, which is actually its charging case that can be pushed to open. The charging case feels solid but the materials are definitely made from hard plastic. The case also has a 470mAh battery and from my experience, can charge the pair thrice. The capsule has four blue battery light indicators which…

A mysterious addition to the Samsung Galaxy A-series with the name SM-A750FN has been spotted in benchmarking site, Geekbench, which revealed some of the device’s core specs. The SM-A750FN has an Exynos 7885 SoC with 4GB RAM and Android 8.0 Oreo. The specs are similar to the Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018), except that it hints at a different screen size or camera. The SM-A750FN is a clear successor to the Galaxy A8 and may be called the Galaxy A9+. Source

Yes, you read that right. According to Chang Cheng, Vice President of Lenovo, the first 5G Smartphone will come from Lenovo and may be announced early next year. This is also the perfect time for the reveal of the Snapdragon 855 which we may see at the end of the year. Rumor has it that the Samsung Galaxy S10 will also be powered by the Snapdragon 855 and may also be announced early next year. We can say that this announcement at the very least, will definitely generate a hype for the upcoming products from Lenovo. Source

Update: We’ve just received an invite to the official launch of the Honor Play in the Philippines, happening this August 11, at SM Fairview Annex Atrium! Honor came into play early this year and their announcements were particularly important to help them go with the flow from other top smartphone brands. One good example of their premium products is the Honor 10 which is now available locally and online. Now, it has now been confirmed that the Honor Play is also coming to our shores. From its name, the Honor Play is a gaming-centric smartphone and will feature the GPU Turbo technology out-of-the-box which you can also find on some Huawei and Honor smartphones. Here are the unofficial specs of the Honor Play: Kirin 970 processor 6.3 inch FHD+ in 19.5:9 ratio dual 12 + 2 MP main cameras, 16 MP front cam 64 GB internal storage Huawei Super Charge…

The OPPO F9 is indeed coming to the Philippines, as the brand has been teasing it on their Facebook page. What’s even more interesting is that details of a Pro version has also surfaced online, which indicates that it will feature VOOC flash-charge, giving you 2 hours of talk time with just 5 minutes of charging. It’s still not known whether this will also be available locally.The OPPO F9 Pro will come with dual cameras and a triangular-shaped notch gives more display. Based on the poster provided by OPPO, the display has practically no side bezels but has a small chin. We have yet to confirm the official specs but by merely looking at it, we can conclude that the fingerprint sensor will be found at the back. The color of the back panel also seems to be a gradient of sorts. Source

Samsung released the A-series as a strict competitor to mid-level smartphones from other brands. While we are very aware of the high price point of this series, Samsung commits that these mid-level smartphones can easily deliver what consumers want. One good example is the Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018). Although it looks very much the same as its older brother, the Galaxy A8, the A6 is far from the latter in terms of the spec sheet. This is our review of the Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018). Build The Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018) looks pretty much the same from the previous one but a lot thinner at only 7.7mm due to the use of aluminum instead of glass at the back portion of the device. It still has a solid build and the materials used are absolutely top-notch. At the right side, the deep speaker grill can be located along with the…

It has been a long while since I last reviewed a Cherry Mobile handset and now that the Flare series is back, it’s time to test if one of these devices can capture one’s taste of a budget smartphone. This latest Flare iteration is far different from its previous versions though as this one is packed with less powerful specification and an interesting software version with a flare of its own. A quick primer of the software that runs in this Flare: What’s Android Oreo (Go Edition)? One word: optimized! Android Go is basically a version of Oreo that requires minimum requirements for a smartphone to power up specific Android Go apps for maximum performance. One good feature for this Go Edition is it has twice more storage compared to a normal Android Oreo thanks to minified or scaled down versions of the pre-installed software packages. These apps don’t just…

Samsung has finally sent invites about the Unpacked event that will be held in New York on August 9. Of course, we’re pretty sure that the Galaxy Note 9 will be the main star of the show. The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will most likely carry over the same design, with the fingerprint scanner below the camera to avoid smudges on the lens. The poster also shows the S-pen button, which may translate to additional features and improvements from the Note 8.The processor that will be released in Europe, Middle East and Africa is the Exynos 9810 Octa-core while the US and China market will have the fastest processor in the market, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. We should expect a 512 GB variant but it is safe to say that the variants will be 64GB/128GB/256GB with 6GB RAM. Source

HMD Global is currently working on the “Nokia 9” or codename A1P. The device will be built on the Nokia 8 Sirocco structure with advanced features such as an in-display fingerprint scanner, more extensive camera features and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. Now, we remember the under-display fingerprint scanner first came out with the vivo x21 UD. The Nokia 9 also has a P-OLED display by LG. FIH Mobile, the company responsible for the phone, had some trouble during early stage of development for this specific feature and later resolved by putting a thinner display glass. We might see the Nokia 9 on August or September of this year. Source

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is perhaps one of the best selling smartphones here in the Philippines, and if you haven’t seen our review, you can check it out here. Today, Xiaomi announced a new color for the device – Flame Red. The phone will be available with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. This fiery color will be available at a price tag of CNY 1,399 which is roughly $213 and sales start today. The total color choices for the Redmi Note 5 will now be five namely: Flame Red, Black, Gold, Rose Gold and Blue. We’re also hoping that this variant becomes available locally. Source

A recent news from TENAA just revealed the design of the upcoming Huawei Nova 3, with model name PAR-AL00. If you would look closely into it, it definitely resembles the Huawei P20 Lite. From its design, we can conclude that the screen should be with 19:9 aspect ratio, and uses a notch. Additionally, the upgrade for the processor is also expected, which might be the Kirin 710. According to rumors, the Huawei Nova 3 will come with 4GB/6GB RAM and 64GB/128GB storage. Based on the images provided by TENAA, it will also come with a dual camera setup with advanced AI features – a key selling point of the Kirin 710 chipset. The phone is due for release this coming July. Source

Did you know that Huawei is the world’s sixth-largest information technology company by revenue? Aside from that, the company is also known as one of the biggest smartphone manufacturers in the world. With their devices being produced in-house, Huawei can cut down their cost for their devices and can try to be on the same page with Qualcomm. The news we just had may be big, not just for smartphone companies but also to Qualcomm. No, we are not talking about the Kirin 980, we are talking about the Kirin 1020. The Kirin 1020 is the most powerful processor made by Huawei and according to our sources, it can surpass the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. It is also rumored to be twice as powerful as the Kirin 970. There are no specifics just yet, but we’ll most likely hear more about it once 5G networks are already established. Source (in Chinese)

It’s been days since we last released our review with the Sony’s latest flagship phone – the Sony Xperia XZ2 and we just got news that the Xperia XZ3 is already in the works. This screenshot from GFXBench revealed that the XZ3 also known as model number H8416 will come with Android 9.0 or as probably know it, Android P. It sports the highest display resolution from Sony to date, 2880 x 1440 (QHD+) in a 5.9″ display. We can also conclude that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 is in tow because of the Adreno 630 listed. It’ll also have 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. However, the benchmark only indicated a single lens for its back camera contrary to news that it’ll have a dual camera setup. The Xperia XZ3 is due for release and we’ll probably see it at the IFA Tech Trade this coming September. Source

The Xperia lineup from Sony has made quite a buzz by the essence of its unique physicality and design. Over the years, Sony’s take on smartphones maintained the boxy and squared-off design. During the course of this year, we saw many innovations to smartphones like bezel-less displays and gaming smartphones with outstanding battery life. But Sony maintained its less ergonomic feel with its all-glass boxy design. despite of these features, can the Sony Xperia XZ2 live up to its predecessors? This is our ultimate question in reviewing this device. Design The Sony Xperia XZ2 has a 5.7″, 18:9 Full HD+ display with HDR compatibility. It’s quite a lot to take it in but as you can see, the XZ2 doesn’t follow the notch trend and we’re very happy to see that. The display resolution is 1080 x 2160, with good viewing angles and excellent color reproduction – this is the…